ASL can be a battle

Official ***** Dickweed

I was thinking about the games played where emotions ran high and the game became a battle in themselves. I'm very chill now but things used to get 'sparky' occasionally and you'd turn on your game face. No more take backs, in your face die rolls, trash talk, ect... Let's face it, ASL can be a intense game requiring hours of non-stop concentration and crazy rethinking of plans and great plans gone badly. Usually the vibe would eb and flow with the game but once in a while you'd have to remind yourself it's just a game and be a good sport. All I'm trying to say is it can be a battle on many levels and it's great thing to experience as long as you keep your cool, just like you want your cardboard troops to keep their cool. Thoughts?

Elder Member

I was thinking about the games played where emotions ran high and the game became a battle in themselves. I'm very chill now but things used to get 'sparky' occasionally and you'd turn on your game face. No more take backs, in your face die rolls, trash talk, ect... Let's face it, ASL can be a intense game requiring hours of non-stop concentration and crazy rethinking of plans and great plans gone badly. Usually the vibe would eb and flow with the game but once in a while you'd have to remind yourself it's just a game and be a good sport. All I'm trying to say is it can be a battle on many levels and it's great thing to experience as long as you keep your cool, just like you want your cardboard troops to keep their cool. Thoughts?

Forum Guru

Hmm .. I don't think I ever had games where emotions run high. I cheer my opponent's snakeyes and I share a lively chat about the fates of our cardboard folks but it never went "turn on your game face, no more take backs, in your face drs ..etc".

I mean DUDE .. it's a game man, that stuff is what we do at work.

Wait .. actually it did happen once in the last 4 years - the guy started yelling (like full on yelling) at the die rolls. That was our last game.

Elder Member

I play to have fun, but part of that fun is having the feeling that I've got a reasonable chance of going the distance. I don't really care if I lose, so long as there has been a real game played.

Hence, if the scenario turns out to be woefully unbalanced, or if the scenario itself is fine but my DR have been consistently and outrageously awful, I stop feeling that I'm having fun. And if I'm not having fun, why am I even bothering? It's an emotional slide. I've quit scenarios where I still had a mathematically (and objectively) "fair" chance of achieving my VC in the long term, but absolutely everything that was happening was just the dice kicking me in the nuts several times each turn. It's not fun, so I opt out.

Similarly if it's my opponent who's getting the kicking, I don't feel like I'm proving anything by making his bad situation worse. I don't mind abandoning something if it has become that uneven (although if my opponent really wants to keep going, which generally indicates someone who is much more even-tempered than I am, I'll usually oblige).

All I ever want is an interesting, fun game. Statistically my chance of winning is only ever about 50%, so I don't really factor that in as part of the enjoyment (otherwise I'd be disappointed too frequently). I can groan at the occasional run of bad luck and cheer when the dice support my actions; intellectually I know that no run of luck (good or bad) lasts forever. But sometimes the run of bad luck lasts long enough to leave a sour taste in my mouth and then it's a general failure of the personal MC ... but I hope that I make it clear that my displeasure is directed at my dice and not at my opponent!

All of that being said ... I've found that most players who are very vocal or especially "demonstrative" when the dice don't go their way don't really feel as strongly about it as they appear to; a heartfelt curse or two and then it's on to the next DR, all smiles in anticipation of success.

Forum Guru

I am not of the competitive type and always play friendly - even in tournaments.

That said, bytimes I can burst out a curse and fuss if just nothing seems to work for a while.

Examples being things like a DR average of IFTs of 7.4 by my Japanese vs. 5.9 by the US for about 20 rolls each side (recent game, of course...). The Japanese have low FP compared to the US who have plenty. So they need to make count what they have against the low morale Americans. On the other hand, the US has plenty of FP in the first place and keeps rolling maliciously good vs. the Japanese, everything will stripe right left & center.

But this is only in the heat of the moment and aimed at the perception (which may well be wrong) that the balance and suspense of the game has shifted prematurely rather than at the opponent. I won't throw dice, overturn boards or anything like this under any circumstance, though.

With regard to the "no more takebacks" and "you fuck me with the rules and so will I" things - this is what really turns me off. I want to enjoy the game and not be bothered with someone's problem with his ego. I dislike players that dump these things and sacrifice all that is proper for winning. I won't start with "no Recombining after Recovery" and other such sorts of BS, but if someone pulls that on me, of course, he'll have it.

Forum Guru

All of that being said ... I've found that most players who are very vocal or especially "demonstrative" when the dice don't go their way don't really feel as strongly about it as they appear to; a heartfelt curse or two and then it's on to the next DR, all smiles in anticipation of success.

See Dummies in the index

I can think of only one game where I came close to losing my shît more due to slow play than anything else.
Generally, I can keep an equanimitable attitude in the face of dice, they will turn eventually.
I find it harder when I am dicing my opponent, which has happened a few times. Most recently against Ian where his average IFT roll was 7.65 and his average MC was 8.2....over 40+ rolls.

I'll be honest here:
I prefer dicing my opponents rather than being diced.

Feels better to be kissed by a lady rather than being kicked in the nuts. Even if her name is 'Luck'.

But even after insidious streaks of good luck or bad luck, I want to carry on (well - almost always...). We all know it's ASL and - things happen.

The most memorable games of all are often those where luck swings wildly back and forth and it ends up being pretty tight at the end. So in a way, having a streak of bad luck could be seen being halfway there for one of these.

Elder Member

I think a lot has to do with the environment in which the game is played and the opponent you're playing. At tournaments I expect the parameters to be a little more stringent so less take backs and one tries to play pretty close to the rules as presented, at least as they understand them. I think the trash talk is probably less obvious in these circumstances, but other forms of intimidation, real or perceived, is probably more prevalent. I take for instance the 1st time I played Bob at the ASL Open in Chicago. I was more nervous than a 16 year old virgin at a redneck family reunion. Now whether Bob took advantage of this fact is unknown to me, but he certainly could have. This led to me goofing up or at least mis-remembering a pretty basic rule, and conscientiously taking note to not redo a move I had made or recalling a shot I had announced. This was for me quite a tense game and peaked my competitive nature. Trash talk is usually reserved for your less intense games and normally with those opponents that are your long-time friends or at least long time opponents that you are quite familiar with (in my parlance, friends as well). Of course other physical factors may impact your approach to the game as well, lack of sleep, just feeling out of sorts or even just your opponents attitude. However, like almost all here, my bottom line is to enjoy ASL, hopefully with a competitive game, but also be a "somewhat" gracious opponent (I was an old ground pounder after all, where arguing with an infantryman is like wrestling with a pig. Everyone get dirty, but the pig loves it).

Official ***** Dickweed

Sometimes the brain winches when something unexpected happens, " WFT, now I have to think even harder !!!"

Btw, its a good thing it gets your blood pumping a little bit. Thats what makes ASL exciting. I kinda play like Wes Vaugn (he's the best) and let the energy out, usually matching the vibe 50/50 of the current opponent.
The goal is to have fun, meet new/old friends, practice machine gun and bomb sounds, and exercise the mind. Drama is optional.

Stray Cat

Good natured ribbing is a part of any game among friends and should be taken (and given) in that spirit. It's a big part of the fun of FTF gaming.
The only times I ever got mad during a game have been solo games when one side is outrageously dicing the other (usually the attacker getting reamed, and don't we solo players always secretly root for the attacker?).
Never at another player.

If the dice are slaughtering one player or another, yeah the game becomes less fun.
I'll take a well played defeat any day over a walkover victory.

Member

I can think of only one game where I came close to losing my shît more due to slow play than anything else.
Generally, I can keep an equanimitable attitude in the face of dice, they will turn eventually.
I find it harder when I am dicing my opponent, which has happened a few times. Most recently against Ian where his average IFT roll was 7.65 and his average MC was 8.2....over 40+ rolls.

Yes, it does get you down when you have bad dice. I’m normally a believer that the dice will turn at some stage, however in this game it didn’t and had to resort to nervous laughter. Does ruin the game though.

Senior Member

After many years of gaming, most of it away from ASL, I flat out won't play an opponent who is not a sport twice. Who's got time for that? If I'm not having fun because I'm playing (especially) poorly, or because my dice are crap, then fine, those things will change (well, the dice anyway). It's up to me to take a breath, remember I'm an adult, and carry on. Sometimes I start cheering for my opponent when things get really macabre.

But if I'm not having fun because my opponent is losing it when the dice are not going their way, or the person is super rules-lawyer-y and inventing rules interpretations to get an edge, especially when they're already winning handily, or a super poor winner or loser, then I'm out.

Luckily for me, I've yet to encounter anyone like that in the ASL community - all the people I've had the pleasure to play have been fun, interesting, understanding about my mistakes, honest about theirs, and mature enough to be at least somewhat phlegmatic about their dicings. I'm sure poor sports do exist in this game, but at least it's not 40K - sheesh...